Abstract
BackgroundInjury is an emerging public health problem with social development and modernization in developing countries. To describe the prevalence and burden of injury and provide elaborate information for policy development, we conducted a community-based household survey in the Shandong Province of China.MethodsThe survey was conducted in 2004. Participants were selected by a multi-stage random sampling method. Information on injuries occurring in 2003 was collected in four cities and six rural counties in Shandong Province, China.ResultsThe estimated incidence rate of injury in Shandong Province was 67.7 per 1,000. Injury incidence was higher in rural areas (84.3 per 1,000) than in urban areas (42.9 per 1,000), and was higher among males (81.1 per 1,000) than females (54.1 per 1,000).The average years of potential life lost is 37.7 years for each fatal injury. All injuries together caused 6,080,407 RMB yuan of direct and indirect economic loss, with traffic injuries accounting for 44.8% of the total economic loss.ConclusionInjury incidence was higher among males than females, and in rural areas than in urban areas. Youngsters suffered the highest incidence of injury. Injury also caused large losses in terms of both economics and life, with traffic injuries contributing the most to this loss. Strategies for prevention of injury should be developed.
Highlights
Injury is an emerging public health problem with social development and modernization in developing countries
Injury incidence was higher among males than females, and in rural areas than in urban areas
Our study demonstrates that injury has become a public health problem in the Shandong Province of China as the result of social urbanization and modernization
Summary
Injury is an emerging public health problem with social development and modernization in developing countries. An estimated 5 million people worldwide died from injuries in 2000, with a mortality rate of 83.7/100,000 population, accounting for 9% of the world's deaths in 2000 and 12% of the world's burden of disease[1]. The estimated annual economic cost of injury is equivalent to 12.5 billion US dollars, almost four times the total public health services budget of China[3]. Injury has become an important public health problem in China[4]. The injury fatality rate was 57.02 per 100,000 in Shandong Province in 2001, accounting for 9.08% of all deaths[5]
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